Flint city leaders were hoping to reap $8.5 million over two years from the retiree health care cuts.

Flint emergency manager Darnell Earley says Flint has few other options to deal with its financial problems.

“You do the math and you tell me how confident you would be in recommending to Treasury or to the governor’s office that the city of Flint ,without resolving that issue, can hope for long-term financial sustainability,” says Earley.

“All you have to do is look 65, 70 miles down I-75 you get a pretty good idea what some of those other options are,” adds Earley.

Earley is referring to Detroit, which filed for bankruptcy protection last year.

Flint has a $13 million deficit, with the potential of adding another $2 million a year for the next few years due to its structural deficit.